I'm not read

Dear Aamir,

I do admire your work as an actor in general. I did watch the movie “3 Idiots” and have read Five Point Someone in the past. I am not excited by either of these. If I must pick one over the other, I’ll pick the movie. In fact, none of Chetan’s works have appealed to me thus far. That said, I have few things to say about the current issue.

Some background: The notions of originality is well defined for more than 60 years now. If a movie is based on anything that’s published before then the movie’s story is “adapted” and not “original” (for instance, sequels can never have “original” screenplay!). So, In Raju’s way articulating relationship between 3 Idiots and Five Point Someone, even if there is an acknowledged 0.000001% relationship between the two, Chetan has to be given equal credits as any other writer involved in 3 Idiots (Note: Chetan has to be paid too!)

Some reasons for why 3 Idiots team has acted wrongly so far:

Based on the above definition, Raju/Vidu Vinod saying “5-10%” is pointless (I can’t believe that you don’t know the definition of “original” in this context given you have been to Oscar-s more than once!!)

You speaking about something which you haven’t read is pointless

You speaking about Chetan being famous and credit to be given to Abhajit (as if Abhajit is unknown, anyone who cares for movies will know Abhajith is the guy who wrote Lage Raho Munna Bhai!!) is pointless

You speaking as if you had recorded the exact conversation you had with Chetan is pointless. Quoting something that happened months back from memory isn’t a winning evidence – when probed it is more likely to be broken in a court of law

What do I feel personally? I feel you should just stay away from this. You are an actor and you limit yourself to that. When a jorno asks about this, you could delegate the answering responsibility to the people who are involved (Raju/Vidu Vinod). It makes no sense for you to defend someone blindly just because they happened to provide you job (you should know that you are defending Vidu Vinod and Raju who made a successful movie named Munna Bhai MBBS but failed to mention about the existance of Patch Adams!). The simple reason is, when you get inolved thousands of people get involved – They spend their emotions and time by getting involved, Thousands of comments/blogs/web pages/print pages get written etc.

If at all you want to get involved in the issue, please limit your involvement to advising Vidu Vinod and Raju that they should just pray Chetan doesn’t sue them for copyright infringement (the current agreement between them can be deemed void in a court of law, arguably). Ask them to thank Chetan if possible. Also, if they want to retain some self dignity, ask them to pay Chetan for using his work in spite of him not asking for it.

Regards, ~A

PS: Please note, being emotional can never be an excuse for not being responsible towards your fans/readers given the stature you carry in the society.